Solution studies of elongation factor Tu from the extreme halophile Halobacterium marismortui

The activity, stability and structure in solution of polypeptide elongation factor hEF-Tu from Halobacterium marismortui have been investigated. The protein is stable in aqueous solutions only at high concentrations of NaCl, KCl or ammonium sulphate, whereas it is more active in exchanging GDP at lower salt concentrations. It is more active and stable at lower pH values than is non-halophilic EF-Tu. The structure in solution of the protein was determined by complementary density, ultracentrifugation, dynamic light-scattering and neutron-scattering measurements. The protein has large hydration interactions, similar to those of other halophilic proteins: 0.4 (+/- 0.1) g of water and 0.20 (+/- 0.05) g of KCl associated with 1 g of protein, with a water/KCl mass ratio always remaining close to 2. The kinetics of inactivation at low salt concentrations showed a stabilizing effect of NaCl when compared to KCl. At low salt concentration, inactivation, protein unfolding and aggregation were strongly correlated. The results suggest that the stabilization model proposed for halophilic malate dehydrogenase by Zaccai et al., involving extensive protein interactions with hydrated salt ions, is also valid for hEF-Tu.